Dear Professor Quester:
I was wondering... when you split two positively charged atoms, you make
nuclear energy. But, when they try to make cold fusion, they split two
negatively charged atoms and can't do it. Why can't you try to split a
positive and a negative atom to make cold fusion? (I know you have to have
nickel to do it also!) -Thanks (John, 8th grade, Queen of Angels School, B.C. Canada)

The Professor Answers:
Dear John:

It's not really a question of two positively charged atoms versus two
negatively charges ones when discussing nuclear power. First, you already know
that atoms are made up of protons (positive charge), electrons (negative
charge) and neutrons (neutral charge). Because atoms have the same number
of electrons and protons, the positive and negative charges balance equally. The force that holds the protons and neutrons together in
the nucleus is called nuclear force.

Each atom of Uranium-235, the fissionable isotope of uranium, contains 92
protons, 92 electrons and 143 neutrons. That's what makes it an isotope;
having more neutrons. Although each atom is balanced, all nuclei are unstable to a certain degree. The bigger the nucleus, the more unstable it is. It is
this instability that makes U-235 perfect for fission to occur.

The balanced, but large, unstable U-235 nucleus is bombarded by neutrons.
When a neutron hits the nucleus, the nucleus splits into two smaller,
more stable nuclei. These smaller nuclei need fewer neutrons to make them
stable and two or three neutrons are usually released. These then cause
other nuclei to break up and can start a chain reaction. The energy needed
to hold all of the particles together in the new nuclei is less than that
required in the original nucleus and the "spare" energy is released, mostly
as heat.

So far, nuclear fusion is still in the theoretical and experimental stages
of development. Cold fusion, at this time, has not been duplicated.

The Professor Answers:
Instead of burning a fuel, such as oil or coal, to heat water to steam,
nuclear power plants use the chain reaction of atoms splitting to change
the energy of atoms into heat energy. Since there's nothing burned, there's
nothing to emit smoke. The problem with nuclear is that even though the
reaction doesn't produce "pollutants" it does produce radioactive waste
which is odorless, colorless and very harmful to the environment. Good
question. Thanks for asking.

Dear Professor Quester:
How many people does it take to operate a nuclear power plant? (Ben, 5th grade, Lafayette)

The Professor Answers:
Good question. Actually, it doesn't take many to operate a nuclear plant.
Sometimes there are only 3-4 people in the control room. Any 2 of those
people are back-up.

Overall though, according to the utilities, it takes anywhere from 30-50
(sometimes a few more) people to operate a power plant. This includes
maintenance, control room, fuel loading, security, administrative and other
areas.

Dear Professor Quester:
We looked in the encyclopedia and we could not find who discovered
nuclear fusion. Could you help us? (Matt and Kevin, 5th grade, Lafayette)

The Professor Answers:
In 1938, the German physicist Hans Bethe first suggested that nuclear
fusion might be what provides the energy of stars such as the Sun. He was
correct however a better understanding of the processes involved has been
the result of work by many great scientists. Bethe was rewarded for his
discoveries in 1967 with the Nobel Prize for Physics.

The Professor Answers:
Since you're on the nuclear quest, and after reading about Marie Curie, you
probably know that uranium is a rare metal dug out of the ground. Uranium
was formed as the earth was formed, billions of years ago.

The Professor Answers:
According to the federal Energy Information Administration, Illinois
produces and uses the most nuclear energy. Thanks for asking.

Dear Professor Quester:
I am doing a project on Cold Fusion and was wondering why cold fusion only
works with experimental error? (Carrie-Ann Payne, 11th Grade, South Africa)

The Professor Answers:
I'm not certain cold fusion works even with experimental error. The
scientific community hasn't been able to duplicate the phenomenon of cold
fusion. The following is from the Department of Energy's Fusion Energy
Office regarding cold fusion. Additionally, here are some links for fusion.
Good luck with your search.

Following the announcement of "cold fusion" in March 1989, researchers
throughout the world, including those at Department of Energy laboratories,
raced to verify the claims and to understand the underlying phenomena.
Claims of scientific discovery require independent verification to
establish a basis for understanding the underlying scientific phenomena and
to explore the prospects for technology development. Throughout history,
scientific advances have been subjected to, and have successfully
withstood, this level of scrutiny. After exhaustive research, reports of
"anomalous excess energy" and "anomalous nuclear effects"
associated with the "cold fusion" claims have not been substantiated.

Research interest in "cold fusion" has dwindled dramatically since 1989.
The most recent information on the disfavor into which the field of "cold
fusion" has fallen comes from the New York Times web site. On August 26,
1997, it was reported that the government of Japan said that it would
terminate its research on cold fusion,
which had failed to confirm that the phenomenon exists. It went on to state
that "most governments and scientists in the United States and Europe had
dismissed the concept as an illusion."

An extensive body of data and information on "cold fusion" resulted from
the research following the March 1989 announcement. This information
appears in scientific journals as well as the technical and popular press.
Several books were published on the subject. Many consider the book "Bad
Science - The Short Life and
Weird Times of Cold Fusion," by Gary Taubes, to provide an accurate,
comprehensive account of the history of "cold fusion."

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